


Spider-man's Pet Spider Causes Problems

by slightly_salty_ace



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Emotional Support Animals, Peter has anxiety, Peter is 23, Pets, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Steve and Tony are Peter's unofficial parents, Superfamily (Marvel), Tarantula - Freeform, and other problems, everyone lives together in the tower, mostly anxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-18 07:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11286801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightly_salty_ace/pseuds/slightly_salty_ace
Summary: Spider-man's spider sense has caused him to develop some fairly serious anxiety problems. He decides to handle this by getting an emotional support animal. This animal happens to be a tarantula.The Avengers have mixed feelings about this. Especially since the tarantula has a habit of causing problems. Not to mention that the Avengers already have enough problems as it is. Their main problem being the Green Goblin, who has just come back from the dead and is threatening to tear apart their dysfunctional family.





	1. Release the Spider!!

Tony didn't bat an eye when Peter hurried into the lab. The younger man was wearing his spider-man costume, sans the mask. It was only when he heard the wallcrawler rummaging through a pile of scrap metal that Tony finally set down the repulsor he was working on and looked over at him. "Lose something?"

"Maybe?" Spider-man darted around the lab, looking under every object and surface.

"Better not be a tarantula," Tony growled.

Peter's head snapped up, "how did you-"

"You seriously think you can bring a living thing into this building without me knowing about it?" Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

"Friday! I told you not to tell anyone!" Spidey shook his fist at the AI in the ceiling.

"Yeah, no. She answers to me, not you," Tony waved a wrench at the wallcrawler. "I want that thing out of here as soon as you find it."

"Henry's not hurting anyone," Peter muttered under his breath. He crawled up the wall, sticking his head into the vent. No tarantula.

"Well 'Henry' is going to give someone a heart attack. Get rid of it," Tony ordered.

Peter let himself fall to the floor. "Bruce has a dog to keep him calm. Wanda has a cat for her PTSD. And we've talked about me getting an emotional support animal, too-"

"We talked about getting you a dog. Or a fish. Not a giant hairy spider from hell."

"What about Natasha's lizard? She got it just because it looks cool," Spidey continued to defend his pet. Tony abruptly stood up, ready to argue like his life depended on it, but Peter was already rushing out the door.

* * *

  
Steve stood in the doorway, watching Peter tearing the cushions off the many couches in the lounge. "Sooo...what's all this about."

"I got a get tarantula last night, but he got out of his box and now I can't find him," he explained, trusting Steve to be on his side.

"A tarantula...? As a pet...? Boy, times have changed. Back in my day we just killed spiders and moved on with our lives. No offense!" He said quickly, after seeing the look of horror on Peter's face.

"Can you help me find him? If Tony finds it first he might kill it," Peter shuddered.

"Don't worry, I won't let him." Steve went over to the bar, shifting glasses around. "Does it have a name?"

"Yeah, Henry."

* * *

  
It wasn't long before the entire team knew there was a tarantula on the loose. Everyone was determined to find it, although for different reasons. Steve, Wanda, and Bruce just wanted to find it for Peter's sake. Clint and Sam were afraid it would hurt someone. Natasha and Peter were afraid someone might hurt it. That someone being Tony. Vision floated through the tower, scanning for life forms. The Avengers seemed to have developed an ant problem, slowing down the android.

"Tony, promise me you won't kill it," Steve said sternly.

"I'm not going to kill it," Tony snapped. "I'm just going to put it in a small box. And put that box in a slightly larger box, and then put that box in-"

Steve grabbed Tony by the shoulder, "Stark. I'm serious. Peter has been through enough emotional trauma already. Don't add to it."

"I know..." Tony sighed, knowing he was partial to blame for said trauma. "Spider's creep me out. Why'd he have to get one as a pet? There are plenty of perfectly good dogs. And fish. Fish are perfect. They don't ask questions."

"You're asking why Spider-man has a pet Spider?" Steve couldn't help but laugh.

Tony huffed but said nothing else. Eventually, they found the poor spider hiding in a closet. Tony caught it in a cardboard box and carried it at arm's length. He handed the spider back over to Peter once they had found him as well.

Peter's face instantly lit up. He scooped the spider into his arms and held it close. The arachnid seemed at ease in Peter's arms and made no move to run away. "Can I keep him? Just for tonight?"

Tony frowned.

"Dude, Pete's like, what, 23? If he wants to have a pet, he can have a pet," Clint stood up for the youngest Avenger. "Besides, he needed one anyway."

"Okay, okay. Fine. Just don't let it roam the tower. Someone could step on it," Tony threw his hands in the air.

Other the next several weeks, Henry the tarantula went wherever Peter went. Except on patrol, of course. Henry would follow Peter or sit on his shoulder. The whole ordeal was quite odd to Stark, but no one else seemed to question it, so Tony didn't. At one point Tony found Peter asleep on the couch. The tarantula sat on his chest as if guarding the unconscious man. Tony went over to Peter, planning to pull a blanket over him, but the spider sprang up, it's first four arms raised in warning.

"Calm down, I wasn't going to hurt him," Tony backed away with his hands raised.

One day Tony found the tarantula alone in the lab.

"Where's you spider brethren?" He asked Henry. "He leave you here while he went on patrol?"

Henry raised and lowered his two front legs but said nothing.

Tony did a double take, "did you just shrug at me?"

The spider was silent as ever.

Tony took a seat across from Henry, "you can't understand me. Jesus Christ, I'm talking to a spider..."

"Sir, I'm detecting an unusually high level of intelligence from the arachnid on the table," Friday spoke up suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe there is a reason the spider follows Peter. It understands Peter saved it." The AI explained.

"Saved it?"

"The spider is an experiment from Oscorp."

"Of course it is..." Tony muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter done!  
> I don't have much of a plan for this. I have a general outline for this story, but that's it. If you guys have any ideas please let me know!  
> I was thinking about having this be part 1 of a superfamily series in which Peter deals with his anxiety disorder, among other things.


	2. Clint Picks a Fight With a Bug

Tony stepped over Bruce's Chihuahua and plopped down beside Steve on the couch. The Chihuahua was the first four-legged addition to the Avengers team. The small creature had a temper to rival the Hulk's and was always trembling with rage. Bruce had named her "Sunday", after the AI Friday. Sunday only let Bruce pet her, and she kept Bruce from Hulking out in stressful situations. Tony heard a hiss from under the couch. The fattest cat Tony had seen in his entire life squeezed its way out from under the furniture. The cat's name was Cheesecake. He belonged to Wanda. Tony had given her the cat as a birthday gift as a way to help her cope with her PTSD. The cat lumbered over to its owner, who was currently going through a stack of DVDs with Clint.

That left two pets unaccounted for. Natasha's lizard, and Peter's spider. To be honest, no one was really sure if Natasha even had a Lizard. She kept it in a massive cage filled with plants and never took the lizard out of her room. For all Tony knew, she could be keeping a giant snake in there. Friday had assured him that the Lizard was only about six inches long. Tony was not convinced. Why keep a tiny lizard in such a big cage? Why did she even have a lizard in the first place? He supposed it was better than Natasha having a pet black widow, so he kept his mouth shut.

"What movie are we watching?" Peter perched himself on the back of one of the couches, Henry on his shoulder.

"How many times do I have to tell you to sit like a human being?" Sam snapped at Peter, whom he was sitting next to.

Peter stuck his tongue out, making no move to sit correctly on the furniture.

"Parker, status report," Steve ordered. Peter had almost daily panic attacks, although he kept them to himself, not wanting to bother anyone with his problems. All of the Avengers cared deeply for their youngest member, but they couldn't seem to convince Peter of that fact. And so, Steve started asking him every night if he had had an attack and if he was alright.

"Day 12 with no panic attacks!" Peter reported, a big smile plastered on his face.

"Good to hear. Looks like Henry's doing his job," Steve returned the smile.

"We should watch 'Big Ass Spider'," Natasha suggested out of nowhere.

Steve gasped, "I can't believe the language in films now a days..."

"How about we watch something actually good for a change?" Clint spoke up. "This is supposed to be a learning experience for Cap."

"Bee Movie," Peter said.

"Get out," Clint pointed at the door.

Henry made a chirping noise.

"Did your spider insult me?!" Clint gasped.

"I don't know. Ask him yourself," Peter shrugged.

Clint went over to Spidey and leveled his face with the tarantula, "you wanna fight, insect?"

Henry raised his front legs in warning, letting out a string of angry hissing.

"He's an arachnid, not an insect," Peter said. "You might want to back off before he-oops." Henry had launched himself at Clint before Peter could finish his warning. Clint screamed and tumbled off the couch. Henry crawled all over the archer's face, hissing along the way.

"I don't know what's happening, but I want no part of this," Sam held up his hands and moved to a different couch.

Steve cleared his throat, doing his best to ignore the archer being attacked by a massive spider. "So...what movie are we watching?"

They eventually settled on star wars. Peter was determined to watch the entire original trilogy in one night, but everyone fell asleep by the end of the second movie. Peter was the only one still awake. He turned off the TV and went to the lab to get some work done. His anxiety wasn't going to allow him to sleep tonight.

Peter took a seat on his stool, bouncing both legs. His chest felt like it was going to explode. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He wasn't sure what he was nervous about. Henry made a chirping noise, trying to comfort his owner.

"I'm okay, Henry. Let's get to work." He took out a tablet and pulled up a picture of a small screw. Peter tapped the screen, "I need some of these." Henry raised his front legs and ran off, jumping from surface to surface in his quest to find the screws. Peter watched him with a soft smile, his anxiety calming ever so slightly. 

* * *

  
Tony stumbled into the lab around noon. He found Peter asleep at one of the work tables. Papers and small mechanical parts were strewn around him. "You need to stop pulling all-nighters, kid," Tony sighed. He decided to pick the web-slinger up and take him to his actual bedroom. Tony had plans to work on his new suit today and didn't want the sound to wake Peter up. It took a few tries, but Tony managed to lift Peter into his arms. The kid didn't way much, which worried him, but Peter had always been on the small side, so he tried not to think about it.

He was about to walk away when he noticed Henry running around the table. The spider was moving things around, rearranging papers and putting tools back into the tool box. Tony watched, eyes wide, as the tarantula gathered up all the mechanical parts ontop of a neat stack of papers. Tony nearly screamed and dropped Peter when Henry suddenly jumped off the table, right at them. Henry landed on Peter and settled into the crook of his owner's neck.

Henry made a chirping noise as if to say "ready to go!"

 _I'm going to pretend none of that just happened..._  Tony thought with a shake of his head. He returned Peter to his room and tucked him in. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching the spider crawl back into his tank and disappear under some leaves.

Tony frowned at the tank. Henry had definitely grabbed Tony's interest. He wanted to find out more about the spider. Maybe run some tests. Would Peter allow him to do that, though? He could study the spider while Peter was asleep. But what if the spider told Peter? Tony resisted the urge to slap himself. _Spiders don't talk. It's not going to tell Peter anything. Unless Peter can talk to spiders..._ Tony glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping web slinger.

Tony decided not to take his chances and went back to the lab. He went over to Peter's table, curious to see what his friend had been working on. It was some kind of...bomb? Combined with web fluid? He fanned out the stack of papers. They were maps of the Oscorp building. Everything from the map given out on tours, to an outdated map for employees. There was even one just for air ducts. All of them were scribbled on with various notes and big red X's.

"What are you planning, Peter?" Tony narrowed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the actual plot for this story!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter~


	3. Cardboard Boxes Can Be Good Backpacks

_**One Week Later** _

Tony yawned as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. He was the only one awake this early in the morning, other than Steve and Sam, who had already left on their morning run. Something tapped on the window. Which was odd, considering they were on the top floor of the tower. Tony whirled around, although he was not surprised to see Spider-man on the other side of the glass. A cardboard box was slung over his back, secured with webs. He tapped his knuckles against the glass.

"Go in through the front door," Tony called.

Spider-man squinted the lenses on his mask and knocked on the window a third time.

"That window doesn't open."

"Yes it does, you ass." Spider-man's voice was muffled by the glass. "Let me in."

"Make me, webhead." Tony turned his attention back to the coffee maker.

"Open the window or I swear I'll-"

"Can you two act like adults for once in your lives?" Steve stomped over and opened the window, letting Spider-man in. He and Sam had just returned from their run.

"Thanks, dad!" Spider-man made a beeline for the fridge.

"Don't call me that." Steve frowned.

Spider-man gave him two thumbs up, "okay, mom."

Tony snorted, earning a look from Steve. Peter had been living with the Avengers since Aunt May had passed away when he was 15. No one had ever adopted Peter, as much as Steve and Tony wanted too. The two Avengers were married and fought for a long time to get custody of Peter. But they had been denied on the grounds that it would be unsafe for the teen. Natasha tried to adopt him at one point but had been denied for the same reasons. Peter seemed to consider Tony and Steve his parents, none the less. The whole team was like a dysfunctional family to him.

"Everyone knows Tony is the mom, not Cap." Sam pointed out as he walked in.

"Excuse you, we're both dads. That's kinda the whole point of two men being in a relationship." Tony muttered, leaning against the counter.

"There's nothing wrong with being a mom, Tony," Steve smirked at his husband.

"I'm not having this conversation at eight AM," Tony's mumbled around his coffee cup. "Are you just now coming home from last night's patrol, Peter?"

Peter didn't hear him. He had felt lightheaded the entire trip home, but now it was starting to become a problem. Tucking a box of cereal under his arm, Peter exited the room, hoping he was just hungry.

"What's in the boooox?!" Clint appeared out of nowhere and made a grab for the box strapped to Peter's back. Peter yelped and jumped onto the ceiling. "Way to not be suspicious, bug-boy."

"Mind your business," Peter snapped. "It's just stuff for Henry." The wall crawler was visibly shaking, looking like he might fall from the ceiling at any moment. "You scared the shit outta me." Everything was starting to become hazy. His spider sense pounding in the back of his head. Pure fear suddenly gripped his heart and he felt his entire body go numb.

Clint held up his hands, "sorry, bro. Are...are you okay? You're breathing kinda funny-PETER!!!" The archer lunged forward when Spidey suddenly went limp, falling from the ceiling. Steve, Tony, and Sam came running when they heard Clint scream. They found him holding an unconscious Spider-man in his arms. Strangled gasps escaped the web slinger's throat. Clint tore off his mask and tilted his head back, a desperate attempt to get more air into his lungs.

"What happened?!" Tony pressed his fingers against his foster son's neck. Peter's pulse was way too fast.

"I-I don't know...is he having a panic attack?"

"If it is then this is the most extreme attack he's had..." Steve murmured.

Peter let out a strangled scream and clawed at his chest. Tony tried to stop Peter from hurting himself, but he was no match for his super strength.

"It's something else, get him to med bay. Now! FRIDAY, alert Bruce of the situation!" Tony yelled. Steve scooped Peter into his arms and sprinted down the hall.

Over the next several hours Peter slipped in and out of consciousness. At one point he was pretty sure he was being carried by Captain America. The next thing he knew he was in a bed, with Henry sitting on his chest. Peter lifted his head slightly, trying to get a better look at him. Someone took the spider off of him, much to his annoyance. But Peter passed out again before he could voice his feelings. And then he was on a cold metal table, his limbs pinned down with thick leather straps. He heard a lot of shouting from Tony. Some stern words from Bruce. Panicked yelling from Clint. Pleading from Wanda. Something was beeping, accompanied by several bright lights. Someone started screaming. Peter was pretty sure the screaming came from his own lips, but he couldn't stop it. His spider sense was going ballistic. He couldn't breathe. He needed to run. To fight. Defend himself. But the restraints prevented him from doing so. Someone was stroking his hair and whispering things to him in a foreign language. It took him awhile to realize that it was Natasha. He passed out after what seemed like hours of screaming.

* * *

  
All was silent now. The Avengers were scattered around the room, in various states of exhaustion and shock. Peter had been brought to the med bay nearly five hours ago. It hadn't taken Bruce long to figure out that Peter had been gassed with something that caused his spider sense to go out of control, seeing nearly everything as a threat. It had taken Bruce and Tony four hours to figure out an antidote. In that time, Peter had screamed himself mute and attacked anyone who got close to him. They ended up having to tie him down. Even with the threat of attack gone, he was still tied down to the table.

Natasha sat next to the operating table, stroking Peter's hair and singing a Russian lullaby. Peter was awake again, although he stared blankly at the ceiling.

"It was that Goblin bastard. I just know it," Tony spat. He and his husband were slumped against the wall. Tony was sporting a black eye, courtesy of when Spidey lashed out at them. "Peter got Henry from Oscorp. And he had plans to go back there...for whatever reason..." Tony fidgetted with his shirt sleeve. "Looks like he ran into some trouble. Either from a trap in the Oscorp building or Osborn himself."

"Osborn is dead, Tony." Steve reminded.

"We don't know that for sure. Who else would have gassed Peter? The Goblin is the only one of Spider-man's enemies that use Biological weapons," Wanda pointed out.

"Who did this to you, my little spider?" Natasha whispered. She untied Peter and helped him sit up.

Peter didn't answer, his eyes not leaving the ceiling. Natasha followed his gaze. Henry was directly above them. The tarantula had run off when Spider-man became violent, but now it seems as though he has returned. Peter held up his hands and Henry dropped into his open palms. Peter pulled the spider close, not taking his eyes off him for even a second.

"Peter? Did you hear me?" Natasha squeezed his shoulder.

Peter finally pulled his eyes away from his pet. "Yeah...yeah...I don't really...remember..." His voice was weak and scratchy.

"Get some rest, we can figure this out later." Steve sat on the other side of Peter.

"Can I sleep in my own bed? This table is cold."

"Of course," Steve gave him a warm smile. Natasha helped Peter up and led him out of the room. Steve nodded at Wanda and Clint, signaling for them to go with Peter and Nat. Just in case.

As soon as Peter was out of the room, Tony started putting on his armor. "I don't know about you all, but I think it's time I paid Oscorp a visit."

* * *

  
It wasn't hard for Tony and Steve to break into Oscorp. They went through the sewers and up through the underground parking garage. Steve knocked out the guards in the first security room they came too. Tony lifted his faceplate and frowned at the many screens that plastered the wall. "FRIDAY, when did Peter leave for patrol last night?"

"11 pm." The AI reported.

"Alright. Let's get to it, then." The two Avengers sifted through the surveillance footage. Eventually, they spotted the familiar red and blue costume. The time on the footage showed "1:52 am" in big red angry letters. Spider-man darted across the ceilings and in and out of the vents. Something brown and fuzzy was stuck to his shoulder.

Henry.

"I thought he didn't take that thing on patrol?" Tony narrowed his eyes.

Steve remained silent. His eyes were trained on another screen, watching Norman Osborn sprinting through the corridors. Suddenly all of the screens went to static.

"What the fuck?!" Tony started pressing random buttons, "come back!" After a few minutes, the screens came back on. "Where'd they go..."

"There!" Steve pointed to one that showed Osborn dragging Spider-man's unconscious body down a hallway. There was no security footage for the room they disappeared into. Henry was nowhere to be found.

* * *

 

"I still can't believe you had Henry in that box," Clint muttered, his back to Peter as the web slinger changed out of his costume. Wanda and Natasha were keeping guard outside the room. He traced his finger around Peter's desk, amused by the way Henry chased after it.

"I didn't want him to fall off me while I was web slinging," Peter shrugged.

Clint nodded and bopped the tarantula on the head, earning an angry hiss.

"Stop picking fights with my spider," Peter warned.

"I can't help it. He has a lot of anger pint up in that little body."

"He's just salty because you keep poking at him."

"Nah. He's a natural ball of anger and hate. Like how you're naturally sassy and annoying. Is that why you named him Henry? Because it rhymes with angry?" Clint looked over his shoulder at Peter, who was now dressed and sitting on his bed.

"Henry named himself."

"Wait, what?"

"Henry told me his name."

"He can...talk?"

"Yeah. He speaks Spanish."

"You're a lying sack of shit." Clint pointed an accusing finger at his friend.

Peter chuckled. "Goodnight, Clint."

"It's one in the afternoon."

"Goodnight, Clint," Peter repeated, laying down and pulling the covers over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit more serious than the others. I'm trying to keep this light-hearted, but sometimes the plot calls for angst.  
> I hope you are enjoying the story thus far!


	4. Henry and Thor? What could go wrong?

"what are you two doing in here?"

Tony and Steve whirled around. Harry Osborn stood in the doorway. "Avengers business," Tony answered, earning a kick to the shin from Steve.

"If you needed to look at our security footage you could've just asked," Harry frowned at the pile of unconscious guards. "Spider-man is a good friend of mine. Just have him text me next time you need something." Harry was on of the few people outside the Avengers who knew of Peter's alter ego. Harry had even been over to the tower a few times when he and Peter were still teenagers. Tony never trusted Osborn's son, although he kept his feelings to himself.

"This is actually about Spider-man. He's not exactly in the position to text anyone at the moment," Steve explained.

Harry paled, "is...is he alright?"

Steve nodded, "for now, yes. But-"

"Then, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Harry cut him off.

Tony stood up, "we're not going anywhere until we have answers. What's up with this?" He motioned at the screen, having paused right when Norman was dragging Spidey into the room.

"This is private property, Stark." Harry stepped aside and motioned for them to leave.

Steve got real close to Harry, "Spider-man was here last night. And something very bad happened to him because of it. We want answers."

Harry stood his ground, "and I want you out of my building. Don't make me involve the police in this."

"What are the police going to say when we show them the security footage?" Steve said.

"What footage?" Harry asked. The two Avengers looked back to see all the screens had gone to static.

"I don't know what you think you saw. Or what Peter told you. But he was never here last night. Now. Please leave the premises."

Tony and Steve exchanged baffled looks but ultimately decided to leave.

* * *

 

"Peter was definitely at Oscorp last night," Tony reported as he poured himself a drink. The Avengers, minus Peter, were gathered in the lounge. "My suit recorded the footage before Osborn had the tapes wiped. FRIDAY, bring up the file." A hologram materialized over the bar. "There's a five-hour gap between when they went into that room, and when Peter escaped through an air vent."

Steve looked out the window, not wanting to think of what the Goblin could have done to Spider-man in that time.

Tony spotted Henry quickly crawling towards him and trapped him under a glass once he was within range. Henry threw a fit, hissing and turning in circles.

Steve reached over and freed the arachnid. "What're you doing out here?"

Henry let out a string of panicked chirping.

"Use your words!" Clint called.

"Spiders can't talk, Barton," Tony muttered as he watched the spider running around in circles. "Stop making that noise!"

The chirping just grew louder.

"Peter said Henry could speak Spanish," Clint defended himself.

"He was probably joking," Sam snorted.

"Oh my god. We don't have time for this. FRIDAY, is Peter still asleep?" Natasha asked.

"Mr. Parker is no longer in the building." The AI reported.

"The fuck does that mean?" Clint frowned.

"He put on his costume and left exactly 23 minutes, and 50 seconds ago." FRIDAY clarified.

Henry fell silent, his message finally getting across to the Avengers.

"Fuck," Tony poured himself another drink. "I'll go find him."

* * *

 

Iron Man soared high above the city, following the web-slinger as he zig-zagged through the streets. Trackers had been put in Peter's web shooters, without his knowledge. Tony had put them there years ago, and thankfully he hadn't had to use them until now. The sun was starting to set, he had been following Peter for hours. Although Tony was impressed by how long he could web sling, he was worried that Spidey would hurt himself. Thankfully, Spider-man stopped on a fire escape, perching on the railing. Tony dived down and landed next to him. The metal walkway creaked under the weight of Tony's armor. Spider-man ignored his foster parent.

"I'm not a doctor, but I don't think you should be out patrolling after everything that just went down." Tony leaned against the railing, taking off his helmet.

"I'm not patrolling. I just needed to clear my head. What happened to your face?"

"You happened," Tony smirked. "You don't remember attacking us when your spidey sense when berserk?"

"No. I didn't seriously hurt anyone, did I?"

"No."

"Thank God..." Spider-man let out a sigh of relief and relaxed ever so slightly.

There was a long silence before Tony spoke up again. "Steve and I were going to go down to the courthouse tomorrow. Try to get the adoption paperwork. Want to come?" He hadn't originally planned to do that, but he didn't want Peter being by himself. At least, not until the figured out what had happened at Oscorp. It was going to be difficult for Peter to have someone with him at all times. He was a full grown man after all, with his own life outside the tower.

Spider-man looked back at Tony, his white lenses boring into the other man's very being. "Isn't it a little late to adopt me? I'm not a child anymore, Tony."

"It'll be easier now that you're an adult. We just have to sign the paperwork."

"If it's that easy why didn't we just do that when I turned 18?"

Tony sighed, "you know how complicated things were between the Avengers and SHIELD and all the other madness that was going on. C'mon, let's just do it. Then, just the three of us could go out to lunch."

"I'm busy tomorrow." Spider-man turned his attention back to the streets below.

"Busy? With what? Brooding over the city?"

"I have a date."

"Oh. What's her name? Or his name?"

"Don't worry about it," Spider-man kept his head down, glad his mask hid the blush on his face.

Tony huffed, "I'm not worried about it, I'm just asking. I think I have a right to know who my son is dating."

"I'm not your son," Peter snapped, his head jerking up in Tony's direction. His lenses narrowed in an almost threatening way. "You know nothing about me and it's going to stay that way."

Tony took a step back, the fire escape creaking once more. "Someone's prickly today."

"My spider sense is telling me not to trust you, Stark."

"I thought we fixed that?"

Spider-man hopped to his feet, "fixed it?! What did you do to me?!"

Tony stepped out of his suit in order to appear as less of a threat. "Spidey, calm down. You were gassed by the Green Goblin. It messed with your head, but we got rid of it."

"The Goblin is dead! I don't know what you're playing at but you're an awful liar, Stark!" Spider-man's finger's twitched as if he couldn't decide whether to use his webs or fists. "How do I know you weren't controlling my spider sense from the start? This whole adoption thing is just so you can have more control over me, isn't it?!"

"You're being paranoid, Spidey. I would never do that to you," Tony took a step towards Peter, Peter took a step back. "Calm down and just think for a minute." The orange glow from the setting sun allowed Tony to see beyond the usual white lenses. Peter's eyes were squinted in anger. There was no love in those eyes. Just pure hatred. "Don't look at me like that, Pete...I'm not the enemy." Spider-man dropped to a crouch, about to attack his teammate "Don't do this." Tony's voice dropped to a whisper, suddenly fearing for his life.

"Don't follow me." Spider-man jumped off the fire escape, catching himself on a web and swinging around to the other side of a neighboring building.

"Tony!" Steve called from the communicator in the Iron Man suit. "Did you find him?"

"Yeah." Tony climbed back into the suit. "I don't think Peter will be coming back to the tower anytime soon. I'll keep an eye on him, but for now, just let him be."

"Is he alright?" Natasha spoke up. There was slight static from the microphone being passed to her.

"Depends on your definition of 'alright'. Did you know he was dating someone?"

"Of course. He comes to Wanda and me for advice all the time. This isn't his first relationship, ya know. But he really does want this one to work out."

"How come he never comes to me for advice?" Steve huffed. Tony could picture the pout on his husband's face.

"I could list at least ten reasons right now," Natasha answered.

"Can I get a name for this special person in Peter's life?" Tony asked.

"Ask him yourself."

Tony ignited his boots, slowly rising into the air. "I did. He went off on me. I think he's still having side effects from the gas."

"Or maybe he doesn't like people poking their noses where they shouldn't." Sam pointed out.

"He accused me a messing with his spider sense and is convinced I'm a threat."

"You are a threat to everyone including yourself!" Bruce called, he must have been on the other side of the room.

"Banner. This is serious. I'm going to bring Peter back to the tower for more tests, but not until he calms down."

There was more static as the mic was passed around.

"Or you could bring him back now before he has another panic attack on the same level of the one earlier," Steve pointed out.

"If I confront him now he _will_ lash out. I got lucky this morning. This time he really could kill me."

Everyone fell silent. The only sound came from the steady hum of Tony's repulsors, propelling him across the skyline.

"Be careful, Tony." Steve murmured, his voice calm and loving.

"I will. I'll let you know if the situation changes." With that, Tony ended the call.

* * *

 

Steve called him back about an hour later. "You're needed at the tower."

"What for?" Tony frowned. He was currently hovering above an apartment building. Spider-man stood on the roof below, staring up at him, not at all happy that he had been followed. He raised his middle fingers. "Damn kid." He muttered. Thankfully, Steve didn't seem to hear him.

"Thor's back," Steve reported.

Tony hesitated before flying back to the tower. Other than being really pissy, Peter seemed to be doing fine. Tony figured he could spare a few minutes to say hello to an old friend.

Thor was in the tower. For the first time in since Steve and Tony's wedding, Thor was back on earth and in the tower. The Vision was the first to find him, having been alerted of another life form in the tower. He allowed Thor to hug him, although he did not quite understand why the God would want to do so.

"Thor! Buddy, I didn't know you were planning on visiting!" Tony clapped Thor on the shoulder.

"It has been nearly eight of your Earth years. I understand that that is a lot of time for your people. I wanted to pay a visit before you all grew too old." Thor explained, a bright smile on his face.

"Gee, thanks." Tony chuckled. The rest of the team was quickly gathering around Thor, everyone offering cheerful greetings and hugs.

Henry crawled up Thor and sat on his shoulder. "Why, hello, small being. What brings you to my shoulder?"

Henry wiggled his little body.

"That's Henry. He's curious about who you are." Peter explained, seeming to appear out of nowhere behind Tony. He was still in his costume, sans the mask. Tony looked back at him in surprise and was met with the same angry look as before.

"Is Henry part of this team now? What planet do you hail from, small one?" Thor boomed.

"That's just a spider, Thor. It's Peter's pet. Not a member of this team," Tony said sternly.

"Emotional support animal," Peter corrected him.

"Ah! So this is a spider!" Thor held Henry up like Simba. "We do not have these on Asgard! Now I understand the powers of young Peter! I heard spiders were quite hideous creatures with long legs. But this creature is not hideous! It is quite small and soft!"

Peter smiled, "there are lots of different kinds of spiders. Henry is a Mexican Redknee. I think he likes you." Faint chirping noises could be heard from the tarantula. They were light and happy, as opposed to the angry hissing the rest of the Avengers usually received.

"Can't believe Henry likes Thor and not me," Clint muttered.

"With that body? Who wouldn't?" Natasha snorted.

Clint gasped, "rude!"

"You just came here to visit, right? Not to warn us of any deadly threat coming our way?" Steve said.

"There is no danger, dear Captain! Merely a god who wishes to partake in shwarma once more!" Thor laughed.

"Good, because we have our hands full as it is," Steve glanced over at Peter. Thor followed his gaze and looped an arm around the youngest Avenger. "You have grown into a fine young man, Peter Parker! I remember you being much shorter! And you finally have some muscles on those bones!"

"Eight years is a long time, remember?" Peter ducked away from Thor, taking a few steps away from everyone. 

Bruce leaned over to Tony and whispered, "is Peter ok-"

"Nothings changed. I still want those tests done."

Once everyone started to settle down, Steve suggested they go get dinner.

"You guys go on ahead." Bruce put a hand on the wall crawler's shoulder. "I need to run some quick tests on Pete. Make sure the antidote is doing its job."

Peter visibly tensed. "I'd rather get food first."

"Peter, go with Bruce. I don't want you having another attack." Steve ordered.

"An attack? What's wrong with the Man of Spiders?" Thor's face was full of concern.

"I don't trust Bruce," Peter pulled away from the scientist.

Steve spoke slowly, "okay. Do you trust any of us?"

Peter looked around at his teammates. "Nope." He grabbed Henry and ran off.

"FRIDAY, put the tower on lockdown!" Tony hollered. "Don't let Parker leave this building!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter is loooong. But mostly dialogue?  
> Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Spider-man fights the Tin Man

"Initiating lockdown," FRIDAY's voice echoed throughout the tower. Every door was instantly locked, and blue energy fields covered the windows. The force fields were strong enough to hold the Hulk, but only for a short time. All the lights flickered off, replaced by the soft yellow glow of the emergency lights, which lined the floor. Peter sprinted down the hallway with Henry on his shoulder. The tarantula looked back to see the Avengers hard on their heels. Pieces of Tony's suit were quickly assembling themselves around his body. He raised a repulsor.

"Don't hurt him!" Steve yelled.

"I won't!" Tony shot to stun. Peter jumped onto the ceiling, narrowly avoiding the blast.

"Man of Spiders! Let us help you!" Thor had gone the opposite direction and jumped out in front of Peter. "Please come down!"

"NO." Peter tried to escape through a vent, unfortunately, FRIDAY locked the grate firmly into place. Thor grabbed him by the ankle, trying to pull him down, but Peter remained stuck to the wall. He kicked the god in the face with his other foot and darted across the ceiling.

"Is this a code green situation?" Bruce asked.

"Not until he fights back," Iron Man said right before his faceplate snapped into place.

"He hasn't yet, he probably won't," Natasha reasoned. "Stop pointing weapons at him, Stark! You're doing the opposite of helping!"

"Shit." Steve cursed, Peter had ripped the grate off a different vent and crawled into the air duct. He was the only Avenger small enough to fit through the vents, so there was no going after him. "Split up! He can't stay in there forever!" Steve ordered, "Vision, is there anything you can do?"

"Not while we are under lockdown. The force fields are preventing me from scanning for life forms. But I can still do this." Vision became semi-transparent as he drifted through the walls.

_Meanwhile, in the air duct:_

Peter lay flat on his stomach, arms and legs stretched out. He lay perfectly still, listening. He knew the Vision would find him soon. He had doubled back and forth many times, and took sudden turns, all a desperate attempt to make it harder for the Andriod to find him. Every once in awhile one of his teammate's voices would drift through the vents, but he couldn't make out what was being said. Everyone was too far away for that. He was safe. For now. Henry sat a few inches from his face, staring at him with his many eyes. Henry made a chirping noise.

Peter put a finger to his lips.

Henry chirped again, this time louder.

"You gotta stay quite, buddy," Peter pleaded, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm in big trouble if they find me, understand?"

Henry hissed and shook his body.

"They've been messing with my head...I don't know what they want from me but I'm not going back on that operating table."

Henry reared back on his back four legs, chirping wildly.

"Shhh!!!" Peter gently pushed the spider back down, cupping both his hands around his pet's tiny form. _T_ _hey'll have to let up the lockdown eventually. Otherwise, Fury will be alerted. Which could be very good or very bad..._  Peter thought, looking up at the dim light coming from the exit to the vent. If he made all the right turns, then the lab should be right below him. He just needed to get some extra web fluid, and then he could leave the tower for good. _what about food and clothes, though? Damn. I didn't think this through..._  He could feel Henry turning in circles under his hands, trying to get free. "Henry. Please..." Peter lifted his hands slightly. Henry waved his front two arms wildly at the exit to the vent. "Yes, that's where we're going. But we have to wait."

Peter bit back a cry of pain when his spider sense exploded again. Someone was in the lab. Heavy metallic footsteps echoed throughout the room. Peter yelped in surprise when a laser suddenly cut through the vent, less than a foot from his face. He made a move to crawl backward, but a second laser cut through behind him. With a crash, the section fell to the floor, with Peter still inside. Iron Man grabbed him by the arm and hauled him to his feet.

"C'mon kid, don't make this harder than it needs to be." Tony wrapped his arms around Peter's middle, trapping the web slinger's arms against his sides.

Peter thrashed around in Iron Man's arms, kicking his legs and slamming his head against the chest plate. The glass cover on the arc reactor cracked. Whirring noises came from the suit as it struggled to hold Spider-man.

Bruce darted over and stuck a needle into Peter's neck.

"NONONONONONO...NO...nono...no...n..." Peter went limp.

Henry huddled in the piece of the air duct on the floor. He pulled his legs close to his body, not making a single sound.

Iron Man strapped Peter to a table as the rest of the team started to filter in.

"Did you give him the antidote?" Tony asked.

"No. Just a sedative. The last antidote clearly didn't work. We'll have to start from scratch."

"Let. Me. Go." Peter snarled.

"Fuck. Should've given him a stronger sedative..." Clint grumbled.

Peter sat up abruptly, ripping the leather straps off his body.

"Okay, buddy, just calm down..." Clint slowly raised his hands.

"I am calm," Peter spat, getting into a crouching position and glaring daggers at his teammates.

"Then please lay back down so we can help you."

"Unlock the tower," Peter ordered. "You have no right to keep me here."

Tony put a hand on Peter's shoulder, "Pete-ARGH!" Peter had grabbed his hand and crushed it, he could hear the bones cracking inside the armor. Sparks flew out of the mangled gauntlet. Peter grunted as he grabbed Tony's arm with both hands and flung him across the room. Iron Man crashed through a window and fell to the lounge below. A second later he flew back up, hovering outside what was left of the window. "Okay. Playtime's over, junior."

"TONY, NO!" Natasha screamed, but it was too late. Iron Man blasted through the room, grabbing Peter by the throat and slamming him through the opposite wall. "Fuck!" Natasha jumped through the new hole in the wall. She wasn't sure how she was going to stop two pissed off Avengers with heightened strength, but she had to do something before they killed each other.

Spider-man punched Iron Man in the jaw, denting the faceplate. Iron Man retaliated by ramming Peter's head into a metal table. The table bent under the force, and Peter went limp. Tony stepped back and lifted his face plate. "Oops."

"Oops is right, metal dick!" Peter sprung to life, body slamming Tony and sending him tumbling across the room. His jet boots ignited before he hit the wall, and he proceeded to fly straight for Peter. Peter jumped to the side and made a run for it, only to be hit in the chest with Captain America's shield.

"Enough!" Steve boomed.

Peter looked like he wanted to rip Steve's head off. "STOP. ATTACKING. ME." He flung the shield back at Steve, hitting him in the gut.

"You attacked first, bug boy." Tony shot him in the back with a repulsor. Thankfully Spidey's suit had been designed by Stark and absorbed most of the blast, but it still stung like hell.

Peter stumbled, regained his balance, and took off again, jumping over Natasha and sliding between Clint's legs. "My spider sense says not to trust you guys. I don't want to believe it. I thought you guys were my family." He perched himself in the rafters, looking down at his team.

"We are your family, Peter!" Steve pleaded, "the Green Goblin is messing with your head!"

"The Goblin is dead!" Peter screamed, clapping his hands over his ears. His spider sense had become a high pitched buzzing in his ears. His head pounded so hard he felt like it might explode. He wanted it all to just stop. He wanted to go back to having dinner with his foster parents. To watching bad horror movies with Clint and Sam. To sparring with Natasha. Going shopping with Wanda. He just wanted to feel safe around his family once more. But those days were over. According to his spider-sense, the Avengers were the worst enemy he had ever faced. They wanted to use him. Hurt him. Even kill him.

Bruce was filling a syringe with a suspicious blue liquid. Peter wondered how long the Avengers had had him under their control. How long they had been messing with his head.

"No, he's very much alive. We can prove it to you if you just come down here." Steve said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"No." Peter choked out. He felt himself sway on the metal beam. Quickly, he threw out a hand to steady himself. Iron Man hovered next to his husband, his remaining gauntlet ready to fire. Clint was readying an arrow.

 _Kill them._ A dark voice echoed in the back of his head, _Kill them before they kill you._

Peter froze. His spider sense had never spoken to him before. Or maybe it was his own thoughts? He was in too much pain to fully comprehend what was happening. Another dark thought crept into his mind. Memories flashed before his eyes. Memories of Tony Stark showing up on his doorstep, telling him that Aunt May wouldn't be coming home. And that Peter needed to come with him.

"Did you kill Aunt May?" Peter whispered, looking over at Tony.

"What?" Tony lifted his faceplate, brow furrowed in confusion. "Speak up, I didn't catch that."

 _He killed her. You know he did. He did it so he could bring you here. Make you into his personal attack dog._  The voice hissed.

Without warning, Peter launched himself at Tony, tackling the scientist and ripping the helmet off. Everything happened in a blur, Spider-man was punching the shit out of Stark. He punched the arc reactor on the suit and ripped it out. Tony gasped as the suit powered down, trapping him in several hundred pounds worth of metal.

**_BANG_ **

Peter screamed and fell over, blood pumping from a bullet wound in his shoulder. Steve drug Peter off of Tony.

Thor placed his hammer on Peter's chest. "Stay down, young one. We mean you no ill will."

"You shot me!!" Peter screamed, thrashing violently. The hammer refused to budge.

"You attacked my friend. I had no choice." Natasha knelt down to inspect the bullet wound in his shoulder.

"Are you alright, honey?" Steve managed to free Tony from the dead suit. He brushed his hand over his Husband's bloodied cheek. Tony just nodded, in too much shock to say anything.

Bruce grabbed Peter's arm and injected him with the blue liquid. Peter instantly relaxed, the pounding in his head fading. The fear, the anger, all of it, gone for the time being. Peter let out a shaky breath.

"I want answers," Thor boomed. "Why has this happened to our young friend?"

"This morning, one of his enemies captured him and gassed him with something that messes with his spider sense. He attacked us this morning, too, thinking we were his enemies." Steve explained.

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"It's a little late for sorry," Tony spat. "You son of a-"

Natasha shot him a look, "Peter didn't know what he was doing."

Henry slowly crawled over to Peter, nuzzling up against his hand and making sad chirping noises.

"How do you feel?" Bruce asked, already getting to work on the gunshot wound.

"Like a million bucks," Peter muttered, letting his eyes fall shut.

* * *

  
_**Earlier** _

"I SWEAR TO GOD, OSBORN! DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME WITH THAT THING!!" Spider-man screeched, struggling against his restraints. He was tied down to a hospital bed, multiple tubes and wires attached to his body.

"You have quite a set of lungs on you, boy." Norman lifted Peter's mask and secured an oxygen mask to his face. Norman moved around behind his head, a scalpel in hand. Spider-man started to panic. Norman forced Spider-man to turn his head to the side, "don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just going to use you to hurt other people." Spider-man gasped when the blade made an incision in the back of his neck. "I'm putting a special microchip in your head. Don't try to remove it, you'll just injure yourself. Honestly, I don't mind if you do hurt yourself. I'd just prefer it if you do your job first. I have business to attend to. And I need the Avengers out of the way in order to do so." Spider-man grit his teeth, his whole body shaking as he felt Osborn put something in his neck and stitch up the small cut.

"You think I'd kill my friends, for _you_?! You're mad, Osborn! MAD!" Spider-man yelled.

"Of course you wouldn't. That's what this microchip is for. It'll give you a helpful nudge in the right direction."

"Why tell me about it then? Now that I know about it, I'll just get Stark and Banner to take it out."

Osborn's face broke into a disturbing smile, "Oh, you won't remember. I can promise you that much." He connected the oxygen mask to a small tank and turned the knobs. Green gas pumped into the mask, filling Spider-man's lungs. Spider-man held his breath and struggled against the restraints even more.

"I want you to suffer just as much as they will. So we'll take this slow. Some spikes in your spider sense whenever you're around the Avengers. Here and there. Some small. Others not so much. Slowly driving you to madness. Until you have no choice but to kill your teammates." He pats Spider-man on the head. The web-slinger was starting to slip into unconsciousness, his eyes fluttering shut. "And I'll be right there with you, the entire time."

Henry watched the scene unfold from his place on the ceiling. His many eyes trained on the Goblin. He didn't fully understand what was happening, but he knew his owner needed help. Images of the Avengers flashed across his mind. The big one with blonde hair. He seemed to be in charge. He would know what to do. What about the one with black hair and the metal exoskeleton? That particular human could get here the fastest. Henry shook himself. He didn't like that one. He hated that human almost as much as he hated the one who shot pointy sticks for fun.

Norman left the room and Henry took the chance to free Spider-man. He dropped down onto him and crawled around to one of the locks holding the restraints in place. Using his tiny limbs, Henry was able to pick each of the locks. Moving back up to Spider-man's face, he knocked the oxygen mask off and walked around his face and neck, trying to wake him up. Eventually, Spider-man blinked awake.

"H-Henry? What's going on? Where are we?" Peter sat up, the tarantula still attached to the side of his neck. The last thing he remembered was walking to the kitchen. But this was _not_ the kitchen. Or even tower. "Let's get out of here..." Spider-man adjusted his mask and crawled through an air duct. Henry sat on his shoulder, silent as ever.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another somewhat dark chapter. I promise the next one will be more lighthearted with Henry doing what he does best: being a little shit.


	6. Henry is Helpful

**_One week later_ **

Peter was put under house arrest after his last incident. Or really, under lab arrest. No matter what Bruce and Tony did, Peter's spider sense fluctuated between perfectly normal and convinced everyone wanted to slit his throat. Thankfully, he hadn't outright attacked anyone again. He got fussy and threatened to lash out whenever someone got too close, but he never laid a finger on anyone. Peter rubbed his upper arm, sore from the multiple injections he had received in the past week.

"You're safe here. You know that right?" Natasha was sitting a good few feet away from the wall crawler.

"I do right now. But that could change in the next ten minutes."

Natasha got to her feet and stretched, "let's take a walk."

"I'm not supposed to leave the lab."

"You need exercise. And I need fresh air. So we're going for a walk," Natasha started for the door. Peter hesitated before following her. A lap around the Avenger's personal floor couldn't hurt. Although he was surprised to see Natasha heading for the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, a walk."

"Outside the tower?"

"Correct. I'm sure staying indoors for days on end isn't helping your condition." Natasha and Peter stepped into the elevator and were silent the entire ride down to the lobby. Natasha didn't start talking again until they were several blocks from the tower. "How are you feeling?"

"Great!" Peter stretched his arms and took a deep breath, enjoying everything the New York air had to offer.

Natasha smiled at the boy she considered her nephew, "good." A brief pause, "how do you feel about us? Are we still your family?"

"That's a complicated question."

"Then I'll give you a minute to think about it," Natasha nodded once.

"You guys took me in. Steve and Tony raised me as one of their own. I was happy for a long time. But my spider sense tells me that you people don't really care about me."

Natasha found the wording of that last sentence a bit odd, "it 'tells you'? As in it talks to you? Like it has a mind of its own?"

"Sometimes, yes."

The assassin stopped walking and faced Peter, "has it ever spoken before? I thought it was just an extra sense. Eyes don't talk."

"It started...speaking...last week when I hurt Tony. It told me he killed Aunt May."

"He didn't. She was killed by a drunk driver. You know that."

"I...know...but it keeps talking to me. Telling me everything I know is wrong. Telling me the 'truth' about everything. I...I don't know what's real and what's not anymore." Peter looked away sadly.

Natasha took his hand in hers, "I'm real. My friendship with you is real. This is real," she put his hand on a lamp post. "The love Steve and Tony have for you is real. I know what it's like to have someone mess with your head. I promise we'll figure this out."

* * *

  
Peter was allowed to join the team for dinner for the first time that week. He sat in between Natasha and Clint, dragging his potatoes around his plate with a spoon.

"Stop playing with your food, what are you, twelve?" Tony scolded.

"I do what I want," Peter threw a carrot at his foster parent.

"That's just rude," Tony tossed the carrot back at the wall crawler.

"Food fight!" Thor brought one of his fists down on the table, smiling around his mouth full of food.

"NO! Not again!" Wanda threw her hands up, "you people are disgusting and I will not be cleaning up after you _again_."

Peter threw another carrot at Tony.

"Peter." Steve gave his son a warning look.

"What is that thing doing on the table?" Tony pointed his fork at Henry. The tarantula was hiding behind the butter dish, munching away on a piece of watermelon.

"He's having dinner, just like the rest of us." Peter set another piece of fruit next to Henry.

Tony made a face, "that's disgusting."

"You're disgusting."

"That's very true, but besides the point."

"Henry, could you pass the butter?" Thor asked.

"Thor, we've been over this, Henry doesn't understand English..." Clint trailed off, his eyes going wide ad he watched the tarantula push the butter dish over to Thor. He then scurried back to where he had left his watermelon.

"You gotta let me take a look at Henry," Bruce put on his glasses to get a better view of the spider. "I'd like to do a brain scan, and also run some tests. Figure out how smart he really is."

"Not gonna happen," Peter said sternly. Even before his spider sense went crazy, he was hesitant to let anyone handle his spider.

"I won't hurt him," Bruce promised.

"As much as I would like to find answers to my own questions about Henry, we still have to focus on helping Peter first," Tony reminded his fellow scientist.

"I know. After we have this mess sorted out, though. I wonder if Henry is capable of understanding mathematics," Bruce mused, taking off his glasses.

"He understands when I shit talk him," Clint glared at the spider. Henry hissed right back at him.

* * *

 

Steve watched Henry with a frown. "I think we have enough computer chips, Henry." The tarantula kept bringing him tiny computer components. There was now a fairly decent stack of them on Steve's desk. "Shouldn't you be in the lab with Peter?" He groaned, pushing the stack away, only for Henry to shove them right back. "Go to Peter."

Henry stopped moving and looked up at Steve.

"Peter. You know where he is. Now go." He shooed the spider away, "go on now. Spider-man is waiting for you."

Henry chirped and ran off. He returned a few minutes later with Spider-man's mask, dragging it behind him with his two hind legs.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, "no, no...that's not was I meant..."

Henry put the mask on the desk and started moving the computer chips into the mask.

Steve gently pushed Henry towards the edge of his desk with a pencil, "I don't know what you're doing, but could you do it somewhere else? I have work to do!"

Henry reared up and hissed.

"Whoa, what's going on in here?" Tony poked his head into Steve's office.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Steve grumbled, motioning to Henry.

"So you're the one stealing all my microchips...you little..." Tony went over to the desk and crossed his arms, glaring at the spider.

Henry pushed the remaining chips into the mask. He then took one out and put it back in. He repeated the process several times, hoping the two humans would get the message. Tony's eyes suddenly lit up. "Peter wasn't gassed. The Goblin put a microchip in his head!"

Henry chirped happily and danced in a circle.

"Wait, what?!" Steve gasped.

"That explains why nothing we're doing is working..." Tony took out his tablet and pulled up one of the scans he had taken of Peter's body. Sure enough, there was a small square at the base of his skull. Tony had mistaken it for part of Peter's spine the first time he had seen it. "FRIDAY, get Banner up here. We need to operate immediately!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Has anyone seen Spider-man homecoming, yet? I saw it last night and oh my god, it is beautiful!


End file.
